Are you the one?
by 1PrincessKiki1
Summary: Haruno Sakura thought life had been going fine,well, that is UNTIL she found out her mother spent all of their savings to get her into Knonoha Academy also known as the most prestigeous school for rich brats in Japan. What's a poor, pink haired girl to do
1. Prologue

**Desclaimer:** **I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters...I just use them to my own amusement ; )**

**Author's Notes: _Yay! finally started my naruto story. Hmmm, haven't got much to say except sorry for the short and kind of depressing prologue but it was necessary and very important so pay close attention and don't forget it! _**

_**Read, Review and most of all, ENJOY!**_

_**Kiki**_

* * *

Prologue

* * *

_"Higher, Sasuke-kun! Higher!" the girl on the swing shrieked happily, her light voice carrying on the sudden breeze that passed through the playground. The raven haired boy behind her rolled his eyes but smiled widely as he complied, pushing the swing harder so she was propelled even higher than before._

_The small, pink haired girl giggled happily and swung around in her swing to look at her friend. She held a hand over her white hat as the wind threatened to blow it away. "Do you want a turn too?"_

_The boy scoffed. "Swings are for girls."_

_"Are not!" the girl argued, her lower lip jutting out in a pout. "You're probably just scared!"_

_The onyx, eyed boy scowled at the younger girl. "Am not!"_

_"Are too!"_

_"Am not!"_

_"Are too!"_

_"Am **not**!"_

_"Fine, then prove it!" she said, smiling smugly as he stopped pushing her and the swing slowed down. He looked at her nervously before masking it with another scowl. _

_"F-Fine!"_

_The green eyed girl giggled again and hopped off the swing, patting down her light, blue flowered sundress before scurrying to take Sasuke's place behind the swing. The boy sat down hesitantly._

_"G-Go slow first, okay?"_

_"Hai!" the five year old nodded and, with a bright smile, gave her friend a little push. He tensed as the swing swung forward and was thankful that she couldn't push him very hard since she was younger and smaller. _

_"Seee?" she teased ",It's not that bad!" _

_He didn't reply but the smile on his face was as wider than she had ever seen it before. Hesitantly, he asked her to push a bit harder and she complied, pushing him over and over again until he was shrieking happily much the same way she had been doing before._

_Finally, the sun started to dip closer to the horizon and they were forced to say goodbye until they could come to the park again the next day.  
_

_"Wait!" Sasuke grabbed her hand suddenly as she started to walk away. She blinked up at him curiously._

_"Hai?"_

_"Well…I- I just thought…." He quickly let go of her hand and cleared his throat. "I was thinking of introducing you to my mom tomorrow." Then, seeing her confused look, quickly added ", She likes it when I make friends and I think she'd like you a lot."_

_"Your mom…?" The younger girl seemed to think over the idea curiously before grinning widely. " That'd be nice. To meet Sasuke-kun's mom."_

_Sasuke sighed in relief before regaining his composure and shrugging coolly. Still, the girl did not miss the smile on his face. "Okay then, see you tomorrow."_

* * *

"_Come on mom, hurry!" the onyx eyed boy tugged on his mother's hand and quickened his pace. The raven haired woman laughed softly._

"_What's the rush my son?" she inquired, smiling down at him. "Is there something at the park you want to show me?" Sasuke mumbled something incoherent under his breath but the woman still heard him just fine._

_Her eyebrows rose. "Oh, someone?"_

_Her son smiled hesitantly. "I want you to meet my friend, I told her she'd get to meet you today." His mother's delicate eyebrows rose even more as her surprised expression was replaced with one of genuine curiosity and happiness at her son's confession._

"_Oh, well then I guess we should hurry shouldn't we?" She smiled warmly. "We wouldn't want to keep her waiting."_

_Happy that his mother hadn't objected to the idea Sasuke turned the corner and started running down the sidewalk; he could already see the park coming into view. Unfortunately, he didn't see the drunken car driver that swerved around the corner and headed in his direction._

"_Sasuke!"_

_The raven haired boy felt something slam into him, sending him flying forward several feet. He groaned from his place on the sidewalk where he had landed and sat up stiffly. Then, wondering what had hit him, he turned around curiously. His eyes widened in horror at the blood pooling in the street._

"_MOM!!!"_

* * *

_Sakura stared at herself in the mirror as she finished brushing her short pink hair. Once she was done she put the brush away, straightened her yellow dress, and headed down the stairs to tell her mom she was ready to head to the park._

_As she hopped down the stairs happily raised voices coming from the kitchen caught her attention and she instantly headed over the curiously. The door was slightly open, just enough for her to able to see and hear what was happening inside. Leaning closer she looked in, her small eyebrows furrowing in confusion at the sight of her parents arguing. _

_Her father was swinging his arms around widly, his face red as he screamed at her mother while the woman simply shook her head and yelled something back. Sakura couldn't understand the big words they were using and so her eyebrows furrowed even more. Suddenly, her father raised his hand up in the air before bringing it down on her mother's face. Her mother crumpled to the ground._

_Startled, Sakura pushed the door open and rushed to grab her father's leg, which was the only thing she could reach; pleading for him to stop. Ignoring her tear streaked face the man pushed her away with a scowl before turning and walking away with a muttered curse._

"_Daddy?" The five year old girl managed to grab her father's pant leg again before he could go out the door. "Daddy don't go…" Her light green eyes filled with tears again._

_He grabbed her hand roughly, making her whimper in pain, before snarling at her ", I was never your father, and you were never my child." Then he turned and walked away, slamming the door closed behind him. _

_Steady tears continued to drip down Sakura's face as she stared numbly at the closed door, her father's words running over and over in her head. Then, remembering that her mother was hurt she scrambled over to her side  
Once she had stopped beside her, her mother grabbed her and her close as she sobbed.  
_

"_It's okay mommy," Sakura whispered, a small hand patting the woman's soft pink haired head ", I'll be okay, don't cry anymore. I'm not crying anymore, I'm okay. I'll be strong for you mommy, I'll protect you."_

_And true to her word, Sakura never once cried again._

* * *

_**Wellllll, that's the prologue and yes I know it's a horrible way to start a story about love and romance and stuff but please bear with me because this was necessary, and a very important part of the story. You'll find out later on why but for now leave me a review telling me what ya think and stick around because I'll be uploading the first chapter soon!**_

_** Kiki**_


	2. Crisis and Shopping

** Desclaimer: _I do not own Naruto or any of the characters( unfortanetly) yadda yadda yadda, etc. _  
**

**Author's Notes: _Weeeeee! Yay, finally started my own Naruto fic! Happiness! err, ahem. Anywayyyy, I know what you're all thinking "Agh, not another copy of poor girl goes to rich shcool meets rich guy and falls in love! Damn youuu!" Yeah, err, well it's not THAT simple. Yesh, I am using the story line of poor girl goes to rich school yadda, yadda, yadda but I'm smart enough to actually give the story my own twists so I hope you'll at least give it a chance. _**

_**Errr, some simple facts you guys might want to know. 1. The gang are basically all the same age, 18, with a few differences here and there. 2. I know NOTHING about universities, colleges, or academies either here or in japan so please do me a favor and dont eat me if i say something that makes absolutely no sense at all. I'm only a freshman in highschool, for pete's sake.**_

_**And also, thank you all for the wonderful reviews on the Prologue! I really didn't expect to reel in such a crowd but it makes me extremely happy to see I did, and see such wonderful reviews! I'll work hard on this story for you guys, my wonderful reviewers!  
**_

_**Anyway, now that THAT is over with here we go! Read, Review, and most of all REVIEW-err...ahaha...I mean- ENJOY!**_

_**Kiki  
**_

* * *

Chapter 1

Crisis and Shopping

* * *

"Hah! You've got to be kidding me!" Ino smirked. "You mean to tell me that _you_ got accepted to Konoha Academy?" 

Green eyes narrowed on the blond. "Shut up Ino-pig."

The girl in question laughed at her friend's miffed attitude and patted her back. "Oh come on Sakura, it's not _that_ bad is it?"

"Well, what do you think?!" the other girl, Sakura, snapped. "My mom wasted my savings, _her_ savings, AND my college savings just to get me into a school for snobby, rich people where I'm going to feel as uncomfortable as-"

"Hey, I'm not snobby!" the blond whined, interrupting the other girl's rant.

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled slightly. "No, you're just obnoxious and demanding."

Ino scoffed. "Oh, like _you're_ so perfect Ms. I-need-anger-management-as-soon-as-possible!"

"Do not!" Sakura laughed, tugging on Ino's long blond hair. The blond gave a very un-lady like snort that you would have never guessed came from a rich millionaire's proper daughter.

"But, anyway, what's the big deal?"

The pink haired girl sighed. "Nothing, it's just….I'm going to feel so uncomfortable there, and now we're going to be on a pretty tight budget since she wasted all of our savings. All because she naively believes I'll find my prince charming at Konoha….and of course, he'll be rich." But even though her mother said and sometimes thought such things Sakura knew better than to foolishly believe her mother only cared about money. She wasn't like that but, unfortunately, she _was_ slightly too naïve and day dreamy for a grown woman.

"She must have been really determined," Ino chuckled. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You have _nooo_ idea."

"Then, that just means there's only one thing to do!" the blond smirked and stood abruptly while her friend stared at her dubiously. Several other people in the café turned to look at them at the sound of Ino's sudden outburst and Sakura shrank in her seat under all the stairs, wishing the floor would just open up and swallow her whole.

"Ino!" she hissed, a light blush of embarrassment staining her cheeks ", sit down!!"

"Oh there's no time for sitting down now Sakura! We have something important to get to!"

Sakura stared at her friend blankly. "And what would that be?"

"Well, shopping of course!" Then, not wasting any time, Ino grabbed a hold of her friend's arms to haul her up.

"W-What??" Sakura sputtered, shocked. She tells her childhood friend that she has a huge, life changing problem and the only solution the other girl can think of is to go shopping?? "B-But ...-I'm still on shift!" She motioned towards the uniform she wore.

Ino's nose wrinkled in contemplation before she turned and shouted; "Hey Kari!"

A small, shy girl with short red hair behind the counter jumped slightly. "H-Hai?"

Ignoring Sakura's groans about how she was totally going to get her fired Ino grinned at the red haired girl. "Sakura's not feeling very well so she'll be leaving a bit early today!"

Then, without another word, the blond dragged her friend out the door- several customers staring after them with bemused smiles on their faces.

* * *

"I hate you." 

Ino nodded distractedly. "Yeah, yeah. I love you too."

Sakura glared at her friend weakly then sighed. "You do know that if I get fired it is totally your fault, right?"

"Mm Hmn." Ino nodded, totally agreeing, before suddenly holding up a shirt to eye critically. She turned her gaze to Sakura. "Hmm…what do ya think?"

"I _think_ that it's probably very expensive."

"Ok, then, just imagine _for once in your entire life _that everything we look at doesn't have a price.

"But-"

"_For once in your life _Sakura," Ino interrupted. She held up the shirt to her again. "_Once_."

Sighing, Sakura grabbed the shirt and pulled it closer. It was a light, pale pink and had cherry blossoms that were a darker pink scattered around it. A half moon shone slightly at the far right side of it. If she was truthful with herself, Sakura would have easily admitted how beautiful the shirt looked, how much she loved it.

"It's okay," she shoved it, albeit gently, into Ino's arms before turning and pretending to look at another rack of clothes. Ino grinned and, checking to make sure the pink haired girl wasn't watching, picked out a matching white skirt with pink stitching and added them to the clump of clothes she already held.

Once they had reached the cashier Sakura stared at the clothes as Ino took out her credit card to pay for them, but, as soon as the total price flashed on the small, black screen, Sakura gaped and quickly grabbed a hold of Ino's arm before she could swipe the card.

"Uh, Ino-"

The blond simply smirked at her. "Just don't be expecting any holiday or birthday gifts from me any time soon." Then she pulled her arm away and swiped the card.

Sakura groaned.

* * *

"I am never going to have a clear conscience again," she said later, as the two of them sat in a small café/bakery right outside of the mall. 

"Pffftt! I wasn't doing that for you forehead, "Ino scoffed, then sipped some of her chocolate mocha before continuing ", I just don't want people at the academy to get the idea that I hang out with losers." Then she added slyly. "Well, that is _if _I decide to hang out with you."

Sakura rolled her eyes, smiling. "_If _you decide to hang out with me. Oh, of course. Silly me." Yet, even though her friend said that, Sakura knew for a fact that as soon as they got to school Ino would be flaunting her around the whole campus and introducing her to random people.

As if reading her thoughts, Ino giggled. "This is going to be fun."

"If you say so…" was the pink haired girl's doubtful reply.

"I do say so!" the blond giggled again. "So, do you want me to pick you up tomorrow for your first day of school?"

"What for?" Sakura asked, then added ", I can just take the bus, you know."

Ino gave her friend a blank look. "What do you mean what for?? To start off your school year with a bang, duh!"

Thinking back to the new, _expensive_, pile of clothes she had just gotten for school and all the stares she'd get from her narutally pink hair Sakura thought she'd already be starting off with a bang. Oh, and let's not forget all the more attention she'd be getting _if _the infamous millionaire's rich, proper daughter Yamanaka Ino decided to hang out with her.

Which, of course, she probably was.

_The way things are going I think I'm already going to start off with enough of a 'bang' as it is. _But, shrugging, she told Ino she'd see her tomorrow morning at ten.

* * *

"Mom, I'm home!" Sakura closed the door behind her, locked it, then took off her shoes at the entrance lest she get the house dirty. When nobody answered she padded into the living room quietly, and then into the kitchen. She flipped the lights on. 

"Surprise!"

Sakura let out a shriek of surprise as her mother sprang at her and confetti flew all over the surprise.

"W-w-what…-what are you doing??" The pink haired girl stared up at the older woman then at the confetti now lying all over the place. Lastly, her eyes fell on the round cake sitting on the table.

Sanku stared at her daughter gleefully before pulling her into a hug. "I just wanted congratulate my little Sakura-chan for getting accepted into one of the most prestigious academies EVER!"

Sakura gave her mother a look. "I'm still mad at you mom."

"That's not the point!" Her mother snapped, drawing away to wag a scolding finger in front of her daughter's face. "I swear, I can't do _anything_ nice for you without you thinking I'm trying to get out of trouble or something!-….Which I'm not!"

Chuckling, Sakura grabbed her mother by the shoulders to drag her over to the cake- which the older woman had been eyeing hungrily ever since she had arrived. "Hai, Hai."

"So, did you and Ino-chan have fun?" She asked, eyeing the bags that her daughter had placed beside her chair. The younger girl could see her fingers itching to grab one of them to look at what she had bought.

She giggled. "Yes, we had fun." She took a bite out of her piece of cake then added ", Oh and she'll be giving me a ride to school tomorrow, so don't worry about me taking the bus."

"Oh, really?" Sanku clapped her hands happily. "That's perfect. And I'm sure she'll introduce you to tons of people, and- knowing you- you'll make lots of friends." Suddenly, her face turned serious and she leaned in to whisper conspiraciously ", And some of those friends better be boys because I am telling you again; You better give me lots of grandchildren before I die or I'm coming back to haunt you and-"

"Mom!" Sakura let out a shriek of laughter and gently pushed the grinning woman back, her cheeks tinted red. "Will you stop that? God, you've been saying the same thing over and over again since I've been allowed to date!"

Sanku shrugged. "Well, it's true. You know how much I want grandchildren yet you continue to torture me by hardly ever going on any dates!" Then she added dramatically; "Do, you know what that does to my blood pressure?!"

The younger laughed at her mother's antics and shook her head. "Mom, you're not even going to die any time soon! Look at you; you're only thirty-six!" Sakura grinned slyly. "Instead of focusing so much on me giving you grandkids how 'bout you give me a little brother or sister?"

The older woman flushed an interesting shade of red at her daughter's suggestion then stuttered out something about going to bed early before zooming out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Sakura giggled softly and then, knowing her mother's routine like she knew her own name, she cut off a big chunk of cake and placed it on a plate.

She held said plate up in the air.

_1... 2…3…4…_

"Oh, why, thank you Sakura-chan!" Sanku grabbed the plate, bent down to place a small kiss on her daughter's forehead, then ran out of sight once again.

_5_

Sakura smiled.

Once she had finished her piece of cake she put away what was left and wandered over to the sink to wash her plate. And, as she scrubbed at the dish, thoughts of what tomorrow would bring tumbled over and over in her head.

Hopefully, no one would find out that she wasn't exacly rich or famous.

It's not like she was ashamed of being middle class, no, she never was or will be, it's just that she hoped she could lay low during her stay at the academy. After all, if people found out she wasn't exacly 'one of them' they'd surely make a big deal about it and then Sakura's plan of laying low would be completely and utterly ruined.

_Then again, staying low when your best friend is a famous multimillionaire's daughter and will probably introduce you to a bunch of people is almost as easy as biting through steel._

Sakura sighed.

There was no doubt about it. Tomorrow would be an interesting day.

She just hoped it'd be the _good _type of interesting, not the bad.

* * *

**Ahahahaha, yeah, well...there you have it. And yeah, I know, Sanku? But hey, I dont think they ever even mentioned anything about Sakura's parents parents so I'm just going to make up my own. Anyyyyway, how was it? Please leave me a review!**

** Kiki**


	3. Konoha Academy

**Author's Notes: _Ok, finally, here it is! Lol, I'm sorry I took so long to write up this chapter- school has been a total pain and ...well...I have a life! XD What else can I say? Life for me right now is hectic, but I'll try to keep the times between adding new chapters as short as I can._**

**_Read, Review, and most of all, ENJOY!_**

**_Kiki_**

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

"Oh _god_…." Sakura couldn't keep her eyes still; there was so much to see. And everything was _huge. _Then again, it _was _the most prestigious, rich school in all of Japan. 

Ino smirked. "Don't worry, you think it's incredible now but after a while you get used to it and it all goes back to being plain."

Somehow, Sakura couldn't find even one tiny ounce of belief for her friend's words. _How can anyone think a beautiful place like this is **plain**…??? The fountain is so big you could probably have a pool party in it, the trees are beautiful and incredibly well kept and the buildings…well, as I said. HUGE!!_

Snapping out of her shock induced state the pink haired woman glanced to the side at the sound of whispering. Several groups of girls were standing around, pointing at them and whispering secretively; probably wondering who the newcomer hanging out with the oh-so famous Yamanaka Ino was. Sakura groaned.

"I knew hanging out with you would be troublesome…."

Ino tensed at her words then whirled around to face her, her pretty face twisted into a scowl. "Don't _say _that! Ugh, don't you know you sound just like him?!" She turned away suddenly and continued walking, mumbling something under her breath about irritating men and the word troublesome.

Sakura lightly pulled her friend's hair to get her attention. "Umm, him?"

Ino nodded in a distracted sort of way. "Yeah, this one guy in my class. I don't even know why he attends the Academy when his IQ is 200 or something and he's pretty much been classified a genius." She paused then quickly added ", a really, really, lazy, irritating genius."

Sakura was about to tease her friend about this 'irritating genius' when a voice spoke up behind them.

"Great, it's only the second week of school and you're already talking about me." The voice paused then muttered ", how troublesome…"

Suddenly, and much to her friend's surprise, Ino whirled around and let out an enraged shriek of ", YOU THINK EVERYTHING IS TROUBLESOME!" that caused a few birds in a nearby tree, that were startled, to take flight. The boy, well, man since he obviously seemed to be their age or older shrugged coolly before turning a lazy but sharp gaze towards Sakura.

"You new?" he asked.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked back, sheepish.

He shrugged again. "Not really, it's just that I haven't seen very many people with pink hair running around."

Sakura blushed but nodded. "Hai, I'm Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you."

"Nara Shikamaru," he introduced himself then gave her a small nod of a greeting. Still his eyes continued to stare at her and Sakura almost felt as though she were being analyzed, like a how you analyze a fruit to see if it's ripe enough for the picking. She shifted uncomfortably.

His gaze quickly left her, however, when Ino slapped him upside the head- an angry look on her face. "How many times do I have to tell you it's rude to stare Shika?!"

He rubbed the back of his head and gave her an irritated look. "And how many times do I have to tell you that my name is Shikamaru- not Shika?"

Sakura, all uncomfortable-ness forgotten, watched in amusement as the two continued to bicker like a married couple. She'd never seen Ino react so strongly to a guy- even if the way she was reacting wasn't all that positive- and she couldn't help but think back to what the blond had called the raven haired boy. Shika. Ino wasn't one to give endearing nicknames to all of her friends, and as far as Sakura had known she was the only one with any such nickname, which was usually 'forehead' dating back to when they were children and Ino had teased her about her wider than average forehead and 'Saku' which was pretty much a shortened version of her name.

She grinned; apparently she wasn't the only one after all. _Interesting…._

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts as Shikamaru suddenly let out a mutter of "So troublesome…" and took off, heading for one of the main, center buildings with Ino- who had now grabbed Sakura and was dragging her- following behind.

"Where are we going?" she asked and Ino rolled her eyes.

"Well to class, of course!"

Satisfied with the answer the pink haired woman turned her attention to looking around the building as she followed after Ino, who had finally let her go and was focused on keeping up with Shikamaru's fast pace. Sakura, however, was so awed by the beauty of the place that she unconsciously slowed down, trying to prolong her sightseeing, and once she finally turned her attention back to where she was her blond friend was far ahead of her- at the very top of the stairs and walking down the corridor.

"Ino, wait up!" Sakura yelled, scrambling up said stairs before her friend could leave her any farther behind. Unknowing to her calls Ino turned and a corner and disappeared from sight while Sakura groaned and tried to hurry after her. "Ino-"

The green eyed girl was cut off abruptly as she slimmed into something hard and went tumbling to the floor; she groaned again. She sat up slowly and blinked to clear her vision, gasping as she realized what had happened. A tall, black haired man was kneeling in front of her, gently trying to pick up all of the paintings that had fallen from the force of their collision.

Sakura winced and grabbed a painting that had landed beside her. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention, it's all my fault. I'm really, really sorr-"

"Stop."

She blinked. "Stop what?"

The man let out a short sigh. "Stop apologizing, it's annoying."

The pink haired woman blinked again, surprised that she wasn't furious at how rude the man was being, then shrugged and muttered a small 'okay.' As he continued to pick up the remaining paintings that lay scattered around them Sakura's gaze dropped to the one she held, and she gasped softly.

"This is…beautiful…"she murmured, lightly running her fingers over the painted canvas. It was a park, full of several sakura trees that were in full bloom and on the small sidewalk that intersected between them walked a tall, graceful woman. She wore a knee-length white dress that fluttered in the breeze and her facial features were shadowed, giving her an almost mysterious look. Her dark, black hair flowed behind her and stood out against the pure white of the umbrella she carried. The brushstrokes were smooth and even, the colors clear and placid.

A hand abruptly grabbed the corner of the painting and gently pulled it back, startling Sakura out of her awe-induced stupor. She blushed shamefully; mentally scolding herself for being rude and grabbing something that did not belong to her- maybe it was private or of sentimental value to this strange person.

"Sorry."

"Hn."

Once he had gathered the rest of the paintings- which Sakura only caught small, glimpses of- he stood and Sakura quickly did the same. Now that they were closer Sakura couldn't help but stare, surprisingly pleased with how handsome he was. But most of all, she stared at his eyes, those surprisingly black, onyx eyes.

He finished straightening the paintings in his arms and turned to walk away while Sakura hurriedly tried to think of something to make him stay a little longer, just a tiny bit longer. She felt foolish for being so drawn to his eyes but she couldn't help it, and finally burst out; "Are those your paintings?"

He glanced over his shoulder to look at her. She motioned towards the painted canvases. "I mean, did you paint those yourself?"

"Hn." Sakura frowned. That word again- well, more like sound. She sighed.

"Is…that a yes?"

A small smirk passed over his face, and even though she didn't even know the guy Sakura couldn't help but to think that it must be rare to see such a show of emotion from the cool looking man. Involuntarily, she blushed.

His dark eyes seemed to consider her for a moment before he turned back around. "It's a maybe." Then he walked down the rest of the corridor and turned left at the corner.

Sakura watched him until he disappeared from sight before she was finally able to bring her mind to the present and realize something:

She was completely, and utterly lost.

Panicking she hurried to follow after the raven haired man, maybe she could ask him for directions. But no, once she turned the corner she was disappointed to see two doors to each side and then a long hallway that split into two other ones at the end. She was about to try to open one of the doors when a grip on her shoulder stopped her. She whirled around to see a nervous looking Ino.

"There you are!" she sighed, obviously relieved. "Do you know how long I've been looking for you? Come on, class is going to start soon."

Her nerves already on edge Sakura snapped. "Oh, so you finally noticed you left me behind?" She gave a small smirk. "Gee Ino, I didn't know you to be so distracted by a guy before."

"As if!" the blond shrieked, looking horrified Then, remembering that class would be starting soon, she grabbed a hold of Sakura and started dragging her back from where she'd come. "There is no way in _hell _that I could ever even like such a ..a..-"

"Intelligent, handsome guy?" Sakura supplied helpfully.

"Yea-" she paused, the pink haired girl's words finally registering in her head. "NO! SAKURA!"

"What?" she replied innocently.

"You know very well what!" Ino spat ", now shut up or you wont live to see your first class of the day."

"Alright, already," the other girl grumbled ", just hurry up and go faster, we're going to be late." Ino sent her friend a scowl but did as asked anyway, finally stopping in front of a large wooden door.

"There! We're here."

Sakura stared at the door. Ino stared at Sakura.

"You know," she drawled cynically ", I was sure doors were made to be opened, not stared at."

"I know that!" Sakura snapped ", but why is it so loud?" And indeed it was. Both girls could hear raised voice coming from inside the room, even with the door closed. Ino shrugged, then sighed.

"It's always like this," she grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open with a softly muttered "you'll get used to it" that Sakura barely heard- and not because her friend had muttered either. Oh, no. The instant the door opened several raised voices and words assailed her.

"AHHHHH! What the hell was that for Kiba?!"

"What do you mean what was that for!? YOU _BIT _AKAMARU!"

"YEAH, WELL HE BIT ME FIRST!"

"Dobe."

"What was THAT for Sasuke-teme!?"

"Shut up dobe."

"YOU shut up you bastard!!"

Bark. Bark. Growl. A scream.

"SEE! YOUR STUPID DOG BIT ME _AGAIN_!!"

"WELL MAYBE THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE AN ANNOYING PEST!!"

Crunching and munching sounds. "Mmm….chips…" Munch.

"SHUT UP DOG BREATH! WHAT DO _YOU _KNOW?!"

"_This _is the all prestigious, rich school Konoha Academy?"

Ino laughed at Sakura's dumbfounded voice. Then she grinned.

"Oh yeah."

"Ugh, this is so troublesome," Sakura heard a familiar voice say, and there, leaning back in his chair, was the guy from before. Shikamaru. He surveyed the fallen chairs and two screaming boys that happened to be his classmates and grimaced, how troublesome indeed.

Suddenly though, Ino was no longer beside Sakura, but stalking up to the lazy looking boy and poking his chest viciously with a manicured finger. "Stop saying that dammit!"

Somehow, Sakura thought that if the genius boy wasn't so lazy he might have raised an eyebrow at Ino. But he didn't, instead, he blinked. "No."

"Dammit Shika!!" she screeched, then whirled around at the sound of the other argument in the room growing louder and yelled ", KIBA, NARUTO! SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW OR I'M GOING TO KICK BOTH OF YOUR ASSES!"

The room fell deathly silent. Then…

"Owww, why do you have to be so loud Ino-chan..?" the blond muttered, rubbing his abused ears.

Ino didn't relpy, but there was a death threat in her eyes. The blond laughed nervously and sat down. Now that the commotion had ended though, everyone's attention to turned to Sakura- who had followed Ino inside and now stood alone in the front of the room.

"Who's the new girl?" she heard a boy ask. Ino hurried over to her friend's side, introducing her to the class.

"Guys, this our new classmate, and my close friend Haruno Sakur-"

"SAKURA-CHAAAANNNN!!"

The pink haired girl let out a small squeak of surprise when the blond boy from before suddenly jumped up in front of her and pulled her into his arms. Now everyone really was staring!

"Errr, do I know you?" she asked the young man. He pulled back with a loud laugh, his suddenly familiar blue eyes staring down at her teasingly.

"Gee, Sakura, I didn't know you were the type to forget your childhood friends so easily."

The pink haired girl gaped. "N-N-…NARUTO?!"

Naruto hit his chest proudly. "Is there any other?" Instantly Sakura burst into giggles, and hugged her friend back. To think the little boy she had known when she was small had grown so much, and that they'd be attending the same school!

"What are you doing here though?" she whispered, voicing the main question that kept running through her head. Back when she had known Naruto he had lived in an orphanage, and had been very poor. Had he been adopted by a rich family? Is that how he managed to make it into Konoha?

The blond smiled sheepishly. "I'll explain it all later."

A cough sounded from behind them, and Naruto pulled away while Ino, alongside the rest of the class, stared at them incredulously.

"Umm, do you two know each other?"

Sakura nodded happily. "Yeah, we knew each other when we were little."

"Ok, then," the blond smiled and took a seat next to Shikamaru ", I'll just let Naruto make the introductions. My feet hurt from standing up so long anyway."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "God forbid you hurt your pretty little ankles."

Ino glowered at him. "Shut it."

"Alright then, listen up you lazy bums!" Naruto called out, loudly enough so that everyone's attention was on him again.

A snort from Ino.

"The only lazy bum in here is Shika."

A glare from the boy in question.

"-This is Haruno Sakura, a very close friend of mine, so you all better be nice to her," the blond grinned and held up a fist ", or I'll make it my personal job to beat you to a bloody pulp."

A few snorts of disbelief sounded around the room at Naruto's claim but, aside from those who clearly didn't believe him- which were very few- the rest of the boys seemed hesitant to argue. The girls kept quiet and continued to watch them, silently whispering to each other from time to time. Then, once he was sure he had made his point, Naruto's menacing look was replaced with one of childish joy as he grabbed unto Sakura's hand and proceeded to drag her towards the row of desks that he apparently sat in.

"I can't believe how long it's been!" he chattered, and then his nose wrinkled. "But you cut your hair."

Sakura ran a hand over her short pink locks self consciously, before shrugging and smiling at the blond. "You always did like my long hair, didn't you?"

Naruto pouted and grabbed unto a pink lock of hair. " I remember you used to love showing it off, your long pink hair. Why'd you cut it?"

"I don't know," she replied sheepishly ", I guess I just needed a change."

Naruto looked outraged. "You needed a change so you cut your-" But his angry rant was forced to stop mid sentence since their sensei suddenly popped out of nowhere. The blond turned his attention- and rage- towards the silver haired man.

"Kakashi sensei you're late, again!" he yelled.

The man looked up from the small book in front of him and up towards Naruto. "Oh, am I?" Sakura could almost see the vein bulging on her friend's forehead.

"Yes, you are!" the younger man snapped back.

Their sensei simply shrugged. "Oh well."

Sakura sat down in an empty seat next to a pretty looking brunette, quietly watching her blond friend argue with their sensei about how he was always late, and didn't take his job seriously enough. Suddenly, a tap on her shoulder drew her attention away from her amusement. The girl beside her drew her hand back, her dark eyes staring into Sakura's green orbs intently.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?"

Sakura straightened. "Huh? Oh, no, go ahead."

The girl expression turned into a mix of what Sakura supposed was fascination and incredulousness as she blurted out ", Is your hair naturally pink?"

Sakura slumped again. She knew it, she sooo knew it. It was bound to happen sometime though, she reminded herself, your hair isn't exactly widespread. In answer to the girl's question she shrugged then nodded. "Yeah, it's natural." She answered stiffly, afraid of the teasing that usually came with her confession.

Instead, the brunette smiled widely and held a hand out to the pink haired woman. "Oh, that's cool. By the way, I'm Tenten."

Now it was Sakura's turn to look confused, but she took the other woman's hand anyway, shaking it lightly. "C-Cool…?"

Tenten laughed. "Yeah, I think it's cool. Really original you know?"

"I-I guess." Sakura answered, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't mind her," a deep voice spoke behind the two women ", she's just as blunt as a bat." He nodded towards the new girl coolly, his startling white eyes staring into her shocked green orbs. Then he smirked. "And yes, my eyes are also natural and no, I'm not blind."

Tentenscowled at the young man. "Unfortunately." She turned back to Sakura with a huff and added ", and _that_ arrogant prick, is Hyuuga Neji, don't worry about him- he's no one important."

A kick to Tenten's chair was Neji's response to her comment and Sakura laughed lightly.

"Just asking..but…where you also this blunt with Hyuuga-san when you asked him about his eyes?" Sakura inquired curiously.

"Unfortanetly," Neji spat, mockingly smirking in Tenten's direction.

"Shut it Hyuuga!" the brunette snapped and then she turned to Sakura ", anyway, you already know us so…" she looked around them lightly then exclaimed ", okay, well, the boy over there- you know..the one with the fuzzy eyebrows?- that's Rock Lee and…umm….that one over there eating the chips is Shoji, he's always eating…" She turned back around and pointed towards the quiet girl sitting beside Neji ", and this is Hinata-chan, Neji's cousin."

Sakura bowed slightly to the shy looking girl. "Nice to meet you, I'm Haruno Sakura."

"H-Hyuuga Hinata.." she stuttered out, blushing lightly before bowing back. "N-N-Nice..to meet you too."

Once the two were done Tenten turned back around in her chair to gaze around the room once more. "Well, that's pretty much all of us. You obviously seem to know Ino, Naruto and Shikamaru…." Tenten trailed off then suddenly exclaimed "oh, and that-"

Sakura turned to look at where her classmate was pointing, only to freeze as her shocked, green orbs met familiar onyx ones.

"-is Uchiha Sasuke."

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun. Oh no, what will Sakura do now that she has the totally hot guy that she totally ran into before in her class...es. (insert evil laughter here) ahem Anyway, I tried to keep everyone in character as much as possible considering the circumstances. Which mostly include them being a bit more grown up ( I mean, sure, I know that's pretty much impossible for Naruto but come on, they're in college now!!) Anyyywaaayyy, I'll stop talking now and let you review...if that's even what you're going to do (which I really hope it is ;) And if anyone thinks something was off, the characters were way too out of character, or something just plain makes no sense please leave me a review saying so. All critique is greatfully appreciated. ; )**

** Until next time, **

** Kiki**


	4. Surprise Visits

**Author's Notes: _Oh god. I am SOOOOO late updating, I know. I'm sorry. I've been having a bit of a hard time these days. In case you guys didn't know I'm in highschool, and after what happened at Virginia Tech with that spycho guy that killed all those people all schools are tense, and paranoid. Seriously. And we're still doing some final tests and last minute grading. But anyway, I'll stop with the complaining now and let you all read on._**

**_ Read, review, and most of all Enjoy!_**

**_ Kiki_**

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

"I seriously can't believe it."

"I already _told _you, it's not like that-"

"I mean, I guess I really shouldn't be surprised since-"

"Dammit, Ino-pig! I told you I don't-"

"- it IS him, but I thought you were better than that Sakura!" The blond babbled on, completely ignoring her friend's desperate attempts to talk. Finally, Sakura launched herself off her chair and unto Ino, sending them both tumbling out of the aforementioned girl's bed.

"I. Do NOT. Like Sasuke!!"

Ino stared at her in indignation. "And even referring to him in first name bases!! Oh Kami-sama you can't become a fan girl too! I don't want anymore competition dammit!"

Sakura stared at her friend in disgust and, deciding that trying to further convince her that she wasn't lying would be a waste of time, stood up and headed back to her chair. She lifted it back into a sitting position from where it lay, fallen on the floor from when she had thrown herself at Ino.

And all the while, Ino continued to babble on.

Apparently, the blond seemed to believe that Sakura was head over heels for Uchiha Sasuke. Which, she obviously couldn't be since she had just met the guy that very day. But noooo, Ino catches her looking at him from the corner of her eye, which the pink haired girl had to admit being guilty to, _one time _and goes off spouting this and that about how Sakura can't fall for him too.

Much to Sakura's chagrin, since she wasn't going to do any such thing.

"Anyway," she interrupted ", can you believe we already have homework?" The pink haired woman sighed. "And it's only the first day!"

Ino paused, leaning back on the pink sheets of Sakura's bed she turned her gaze away from the bedroom ceiling to instead look at her friend in confusion. "Why, it's not like you have anything better to do? Plus, we got off hours ago, and you started the darned thing as soon as you got home, you must be done by now.

Sakura groaned, staring down at the papers on her desk. It was true, she was almost done, but in-between trying to convince her hardheaded friend to take back her random accusations and trying to do the history assignment that her new teacher had assigned Sakura still had a few to go. Plus, Ino was forgetting something. "I have to leave for work soon, though."

The blond sat up with a start. "You _what?!_"

Sakura gave her an irritated look. "Have to work." She laughed. "You know, work, the whole thing that us poor people have to do to survive in this cruel, cold-"

"It's the middle of summer."

"Haha," Sakura rolled her eyes, but her smile didn't leave her face. "Don't be cute Ino, it doesn't suit you."

"That's what you think," Ino shot back as her friend stood and gathered her uniform in her hands. "… I keep forgetting that you have to work and all," the frown on her face faded suddenly as she continued ", but don't worry, I'll make sure to kidnap you and take you partying from time to time so you don't turn into a work- a-holic."

Sakura, who had just finished buttoning her uniform blouse, rolled her eyes again. "That makes me feel soooo much better." She glanced at her watch, sighed, then turned an apologetic look to her friend.

Ino waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You have to go." Then she motioned towards Sakura's desk, where her homework still lay. "I'll just take some…notes, from your homework and head home in a bit." Then the blond even had the audacity to grin.

Sakura shook her head, how typical. Once she had double checked herself in the mirror she nodded, grabbed her pursed and wiggled her fingers in a jaunty goodbye as she opened the door and headed down the stairs for the front door.

* * *

"Ok, see you Kari!"

The red haired girl finished handing a customer their change before turning to face Sakura. "Hai?"

"I'm leaving now, shift's over."

"Hai, good night Sakura-san!" she squeaked, before hurriedly turning her attention to the two customers that had suddenly appeared in from of the cashier. "How may I help you…?"

Sakura shook her head slightly and headed out of the busy café. The late afternoon air was slightly chilly but otherwise pleasant, and the pink haired girl continued down the sidewalk towards her house. Luckily, she only lived about a street or two away from where she worked, and could make it home before it got dark.

Sakura was in the middle of pondering what she should make for herself as a late dinner, when she stopped in front of her house and realized that the lights were on. Her brow furrowed. Usually her mom would be sleeping by now. And as if that wasn't confusing enough, there was a fancy, blue car parked beside her mother's brown one.

She stepped up to the door and unlocked it, taking the key out before stepping inside and shutting the door behind her. Low voices flowed out from the kitchen and into the doorway, one who sounded vaguely like her mother, while the other was male. So, making sure to keep quiet, Sakura slinked forward until she was peeking into the kitchen from the slightly open doorway.

"Naruto?!"

The blond whirled around, grinned, then launched himself at her-almost making the door hit her as he pushed it away to pull her inside. "Sakura-chan!"

Sanku giggled and moved forward, hugging her daughter as she giggled again and slurred out a welcome greeting. Sakura pulled back from her mother with a grimace at her overly affectionate mood then shifted her gaze to the boy standing in her kitchen.

"What are you doing here?"

"Sakura!" Sanku gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in an overdramatic sort of way. "Aren't you happy?" She giggled again. "Naruto-kun came to visit us!!" She let go of Sakura and stumbled over to the blond boy with another giggle as she latched unto his arm while Naruto blushed and laughed softly.

"The dobe said he wanted to pass by for a visit."

Sakura let out a squeak of surprise, her hand flying to her thumping heart as she whirled around to face the raven haired boy leaning against one of the kitchen walls by the table. She could have sworn she saw a flash of amusement in his face, but when she blinked and looked again he looked as indifferent as always.

"S-Sasuke!"

Sanku turned around at Sakura's squeak and giggled again as she lurched forward to hug her daughter. "Sakura-chan!! How could ya not tell mama you met such d'shing young men at schooool?"

Naruto laughed as Sakura flushed a deep red. "Mom!" She paused, leaning forward suspiciously as her mother giggled again. "Are..are you…_drunk_?"

"Pfftt, of course not! How could I be drunk?" She scoffed, but grabbed one of the beer cans that Sakura just now noticed where laid out on the table and took a deep swing. Then she leaned towards Sasuke to as if to tell him a secret and whispered, and not quietly mind you ", Such a silly daughter I have, isn't she? Pfftt, her mother, drunk!"

Sakura winced as her blush heightened but turned to face Naruto. "You let my mother get drunk??" she growled.

Naruto placed his hands up in a sign of surrender then scratched his head sheepishly. "Well, when I showed up she was so happy she insisted that we have a drink, and…well, you know I can't really say 'no' to your mother Sakura-chan."

"Yeah, well, you should have at least tried," the girl mumbled, but, apparently satisfied that Naruto regretted his actions- or lack thereof- she turned back to her mother. Only to let out a sharp gasp when she realized that in the short span of time that she had used to reprimand Naruto the older woman had pulled out a very thick, and very old album and was happily showing it's contents to Sasuke.

"- see, and this picture is in her first day of kindergarten!" Sanku let out a high pitched giggle. "Wasn't she just the cutest thing? Oh! And the one where she lost her first tooth should be somewhere around here too!"

"Mother!" Sakura shrieked, snatching the photo album from her surely insane mother and cradling it to her chest as her cheeks burned painfully. Sasuke looked at her, coughed, and looked away. Sakura groaned.

"Oi, that's not fair!" Naruto whined. "I want to see Sakura-chan's baby pictures too!"

"No!" Sakura snapped. She glanced at her mother, who was now sleeping peacefully with her head on the table, and told Naruto to keep an eye on her before she quickly scurried out of the room. Then, once she was sure that she'd hidden the evil photo album of humiliation far, far away from prying eyes, she headed back to the kitchen.

Sasuke met her at the door, carrying Sanku in his arms, and behind him Sakura could hear the racket of Naruto cleaning up the empty beer cans strewn about.

"Where's her room?"

Trying to ignore the delicious shiver that ran down her spine at the man's deep voice Sakura motioned for him to follow her. Luckily, Sanku's room was downstairs, meaning that Sakura wouldn't have to have her classmate carry her mother up the stairs. The door to Sanku's room opened without a sound, and Sasuke carefully deposited the woman on her large, white bed.

Sakura kneeled down beside it, pulling the bed sheets over her mother's slim figure before softly brushing the hair that had fallen in her face to the side. She smiled sadly, softly.

How long had it been since her mother had gotten drunk?

Sakura couldn't quite remember, but it happened rarely. She doubted it was really because Naruto had suddenly shown up, and her mother had wanted to celebrate.

_What were you thinking about before Naruto showed up that made you want to drink mom? You hate alcohol…_

Sighing, the pink haired woman stood and, after tugging in the bed sheets around her mother once more, turned to leave. Except she'd forgotten that she wasn't alone, or maybe she just hadn't realized he still hadn't left, and onyx clashed against green.

Sakura felt her breath catch somewhere between her mouth and lungs at the intensity of Sasuke's eyes. Deep, dark, and full of secrets; one of the most beautiful pair of eyes she'd ever seen. They seemed to beckon her forward, whispering things that she didn't quite understand yet making her wish that she did. She felt the fluttering in her stomach, the way her head suddenly felt light, in a detached sort of way.

A crash downstairs broke the moment, soon followed by the sound of Naruto cursing. Sakura shook her head lightly, looking away from Sasuke and scurrying past him to see what Naruto had broken even as her heart thudded painfully against her chest.

Sakura winced as she stepped into the kitchen to see Naruto picking up scattered pieces of a broken plate from the floor with his left hand, while cradling his right one against his arm. He looked up as she entered and shot her another sheepish grin that the young woman couldn't help but to smile at.

"Still as clumsy as ever," she mumbled, pulling him up to stand. "Let me see your hand."

"It's nothing Sakura-chan, just a small cut."

Sakura gave him a no-nonse look and the blond sighed before giving his hand out for inspection. He was right, the cut wasn't anything serious, but Sakura knew that if not properly treated it could get infected and cause problems.

It only took her a few minutes to grab her first aid kit from one of the bathrooms and bandage up Naruto's hand, and while doing so she carefully avoided looking at Sasuke, who had come in after her.

"You know," she began, sitting back down at the dining room table ", It's pretty late, shouldn't you be home by now?"

Naruto leaned back in his chair with a grin and a scoff. "Come on, Sakura-chan! We're in college now, we can stay out as long as we like."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, just don't be sleeping in class tomorrow and whining that you didn't get enough sleep."

"I don't whine!" he whined. Sakura ignored him.

"Well, what about Sasuke, don't you think he wants to go home and sleep instead of having you drag him around to other's people's homes?" she continued.

"I didn't drag him around anywhere- he came of his own will!"

Sasuke let out a snort. "You said that it was an emergency dobe."

"It was! I missed Sakura-chan!"

"Dobe. You just saw her today in class."

"Don't call me dobe, dammit!" Naruto yelled, glaring at his friend. Sakura leaned forward to slap him upside the head, her own glare directed at the blond.

"Can you talk any louder Naruto? I don't think the moon heard you yet."

Naruto grinned at her sarcastic tone of voice. "Gomen."

"What time did you get here, anyway?"

A thoughtful expression passed over Naruto's face. "Eh, at about…five?" He nodded, more to himself than to anyone else. "Yeah, five. Where were you Sakura? We waited so long."

Sakura stood abruptly and gathered the empty glasses and plates on the table, striding over to the sink to wash them. Naruto's question suddenly made her feel nervous, and just a little bit embarrassed. Some part of her felt indignant at the idea that she was ashamed to tell her friend, while another cowered at the thought of what naruto would say.

After all, things had changed. He wasn't the same poor orphan that she had met when she was a little girl, striving to prove himself to the world.

No, he was wealthy now, and much more confident. She could see it in the way he walked, and talked- the shadows of self-doubt and shyness no longer lingered in his bright blue eyes. But in the same way he was still the same. Loud, cheerful, and lovingly annoying like no one else could be.

_This doesn't have anything to do with Naruto and you know it. You're just worried about Sasuke might think._

Sakura argued against her minds claim, pointing out that she never cared about what strangers thought before, so she had no reason to now. Then again, something about Sasuke seemed all too familiar, even though she was sure that she had never met him before in her life….and the fact that she could feel his piercing gaze on her back as they waited for her answer didn't help to alleviate her nerves at all.

"I was working," Sakura blurted out, back straightening.

Naruto's response was immediate. "What?? But-"his voice stopped abruptly, and when he spoke again it was much softer. "I mean, do you always work this late?"

Curious as to his strange answer the pink haired woman stopped scrubbing the plate in her hand long enough to peek over her shoulder at him. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he was frowning, but he didn't look disappointed or angry. Just unsettled.

She shrugged then turned back to the dish in her hand, placing it under the running water she watched as the soap bubbles slipped down the smooth porcelain and down the drain of the sink. "Sometimes," she responded ", but it's not so bad, the café I work at is close to here, and it pays well."

Silence enveloped the room when Naruto didn't answer and Sakura finished the dishes, while franticly searching her mind for a new topic. Finally, she blurted out ", So, you going to tell me now?"

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts with a jerk. "What? About what?"

Sakura laughed and moved back to sit at the table. She motioned towards him with her hand in a vague sort of way. "Well, about you. I mean, it's been so long since I last saw you. How'd you get accepted to Konoha Academy?"

Naruto smiled in an entirely wistful sort of way. " You sure you want to hear it, it's a long story, and it _is _pretty late…"

"Oh, _now _you're worried about the time?" Sakura arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, I don't think so. Now spill."

The blond laughed and leaned back in his chair again, his blue eyes gazing up towards the ceiling. "Well, it happened a few weeks after you moved away. Remember that day? Every kid in the orphanage was ready to ball their eyes out just cause you were moving away…" Naruto's smile widened, eyes clouding with memories that neither Sakura nor the ever silent Sasuke could see. Memories just for him. "You always did have us wrapped around your little finger…"

Sakura smiled softly as momeries of days spent at the orphanage where she had met Naruto ran through her mind. Of all the wonderful friends she had made there, every time her mom was at work and she had no one to play with.

"Anyway, some guys in suits came in, and though they didn't seem like one of the usual couples who'd be up for adopting a kid we just went along with it. So imagine my surprise when Iruka sensei pulled me aside and told me they had come for me," Naruto paused, sighed. "Apparently, I was the missing heir of a once great business man- Yondaime they called him. Mom and him used to be in a relationship but she couldn't handle the stress of having the spotlight on her, and apparently my dad's parents didn't like her a whole lot. When she ended their relationship and disappeared from his sight my old man didn't know she was pregnant with me."

"Oh," Sakura breathed, suddenly overwhelmed by all the information that surged at her at once. She glanced up at Naruto and, seeing his watchful expression, hesitantly asked ", What…happened to your mother..?"

Naruto shrugged, shook his head. "I don't know. No one knows what happened after that, whether she's alive or dead. No one knows."

On impulse the pink haired woman reached forward, taking hold of her friend's closest hand and holding it in her two smaller ones. "Naruto…."

He cleared his throat at her and gave her a small, genuine smile. "It's ok Sakura-chan. I've had a lot of time to come to terms with my life, and I'm okay with it."

Sakura nodded. "So, what….happened after that?

"Well, I accepted, and they adopted me and took me to my old man's home. It was strange, having such a huge place to call home after I'd just come from a small orphanage. But anyway," his smile turned into a smirk. "I met Sasuke-teme after that. His father and mine were apparently business partners, and friends, so I was more or so raised with the bastard since we were kids."

"And you've been a pain in my ass ever since," Sasuke snorted from his seat. Sakura smiled lightly, clearly hearing the lack of annoyance that would usually come with such words. In fact, if anything, they just sounded all the more meaningful; caring.

Sakura yawned suddenly. Naruto laughed.

"Come on, dobe," Sasuke said, standing. "I'd rather be at home, sleeping, like a normal person."He shot a quick glance at Sakura, and held back a smile. "And apparently I'm not the only one."

"Alright, alright," Naruto consented ", I can tell when I'm not wanted." He strode towards the door and towards his car, all the while chuckling to himself while Sasuke and Sakura trailed after him. And while he hurried over to the car to let it heat up Sakura and Sasuke stood by the front door, watching him quietly.

"Tell me Sakura," Sasuke said suddenly ", you knew Naruto before I met him, was he always such a dobe?"

Sakura shot the dark haired man a surprised glanced but smiled nonetheless. "Yeah, I guess he was."

Sasuke nodded. "Good…" Then, without another word, he joined Naruto in the car, and they took off. Leaving Sakura to ponder the strange mystery that Uchiha Sasuke seemed to be.

Good thing she'd always been good at solving at mysteries.

* * *

**Note: _Before everyone starts jumping to conclusions- no, it has not been proven or anything of the like that Naruto is the son of Yondaime, that is simply my theory and so I used it for this story. Also, yessss I know that Yondaime is not really his name, just a type of title, but again, that information (his name and stuff) has also not been released yet. Remember guys, fanfiction has 'fiction' in it, which means that most of the information and stuff you'll find is false, or made up._**

**_ Lol, hope that cleared things up a bit. And as an apology for uploading so late I even made this chapter a bit longer! Anywaayy, make sure to leave me a review with your thoughts and comments. They're all greatly appreciated! _**

****

**_Kiki  
_**


	5. Rainy Days

** Disclaimer: I (obviously) do not own Naruto or any of it's characters **

* * *

**Author's Notes: _I cannot even begin to say how sorry I am. But that's all, I wont be begging for your forgiveness or anything (though I'm very tempted) I've gotten quite a few comments and the like that have made me think some of you are under the wrong impression. Contrary to popular belief I am NOT someone who has nothing better to do than sleep and write fanfictions._**

_**I am a highschool STUDENT with an ADVANCED PLACEMENT COLLEGE COURSE HISTORY CLASS and ENGLISH HONORS 2, amongst other lesser classes.. In other words: A LOT OF WORK. So, as much as I am sorry for keeping you all still faithful hanging and taking so long to update, don't push it. So, before you guys (the people that have been sending me these offensive comments and messages) jump so quickly to yell at me for 'taking so long' and 'being irresponsible' remember that I HAVE A LIFE, and the responsibilities that come with one. So shut your mouths, grow up, and get over yourselves. **_

_** Now that that's over, on with the story!**_

_**Read, Review, and most of all ENJOY!**_

_**Kiki **_

* * *

**  
Chapter 5**

**Rainy Days**

* * *

Sakura hurried down the hallway as she stuffed the last of her books in to her bag, cursing silently under her breath the entire way to class. 

Ino hadn't been able to give her a ride because she had a doctor's appointment, which meant that Sakura- since her mother was still sleeping off her hangover from last night- had to take the bus. Which was just fine with her, really, since she did it all the time.

Except that today it had decided to rain. And without one ounce of warning, too. One minute it was a beautiful, sunny day and then…BAM! Instant downpour.

And as if that wasn't enough to bring Sakura's mood down to the dirt, she had forgotten her homework. And the bus had gotten stuck in traffic. Then, it had to stop at the school gates, leaving Sakura to run up the rest of the way.

So, all in all, it was not a happy day.

_Well, at least I'm not the only one_, the pink haired woman thought, at seeing another young woman in the hallway cursing at the heavy books that she was trying to balance on her hip while trying to reach, with her other hand, for her vibrating phone. Talk about multitasking. Sakura was about to offer her help when the other woman managed to grab the offending device- just as it stopped ringing, and just in time to send her books tumbling to the floor.

Sakura grimaced and walked over to help the brunette, but someone beat her to it. A tall, handsome, red haired man stooped down to grab the book that had fallen out of the brunette's reach. He held it out to her with a blank expression.

Expecting something along the lines of gratitude to come from the fallen woman Sakura was completely unprepared to hear her emit a piercing shriek, drop everything that she had managed to pick up, and run in the other direction.

"What…the hell?"

The red haired man, expression still as blank as ever, turned to Sakura. She blushed lightly.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what was wrong with that girl," Sakura blurted out ", I mean, really. Someone trying to help her with her books and she does something like that." She wrinkled her nose and waved her hand in the direction the other woman had disappeared to vaguely. " I knew it was a mistake to come here," she mumbled, more to herself than to the red head ", stupid, snobby, inconsiderate rich kids-"

"You are babbling."

Sakura blinked owlishly then rubbed a hand through her messy pink locks as she let out an awkward laugh. " Oh, sorry. I do it sometimes without even realizing-"

"Who are you?"

Sakura blinked at the man's bluntness. "Err, Sakura. Haruno Sakura." Then, after a moment of silence, she added, " And you?"

"I am Gaara."

The way he introduced himself sounded more like a dare to the pink haired woman, than an actual introduction. But not a fun dare either, more like a 'I'll punch your face in if you say the wrong thing' type of dare.

Today was just _full _of happy people wasn't it?

"Oh, okay, well….nice to meet you Gaaraaaaaaahhhhhh!!!" Sakura didn't even bother to finish her sentence, instead stretching it out into a shriek as she got a look at her watch. Oh, she was sooooo dead. Even her new teacher KAKASHI was never this late!

"I gotta go!" she yelped, quickly hopping over the still scattered books on the floor. Once she was down the hall she stopped abruptly, called a hurried "Bye!" over shoulder, then took off again.

Gaara simply stared after her until she disappeared from sight. For the first time in what seemed like forever Gaara actually found himself interested in another individual, something he was not entirely used to.

He continued to stare down into the empty hallway, remembering the strange, yet friendly, pink haired woman.

_Haruno Sakura…_

* * *

Sakura pulled at one of her pink locks restlessly and looked around the art room. It was surprisingly clean, she had to admit, for an art room. And quiet too. If the principal walked in she'd probably think everyone was focused on their current project, which were the fruits laying on a table in front of them. 

The thought made Sakura want to scoff.

Oh yeah, her classmates were focused alright.

On every single move that Uchiha Sasuke was making. And of course, it didn't help that he was only sitting a few feet away from her- which apparently meant she had to get equal attention, when all she wanted to do was try to draw a damn pear.

And failing.

Sakura turned her gaze back to her sketch and grimace. It wasn't _so_ bad. She supposed it could be worse. So what if her pears looked like mangled oranges? And her banana seemed to be trying to warp it's shape into a stick? At least she was trying, right?

A grunt sounded from behind her, and Sakura whirled around- nearly falling off her stool in the process- to see Sasuke leaning towards her, his gaze on her sketch.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it looks like crap." She snapped quietly, then huffed. " I am _not_ an artist!"

"I never said it looked like crap," he muttered, but kept his eyes on her paper.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You don't need to; I can see it in your face."

This time he did turn to look at her. "That's impossible. My face is completely neutral."

"Oh, and it is. Except your eyebrows."

One of the eyebrows in question quirked up in what Sakura guessed was slight amusement. "Really."

"Yup," she chirped. "But anyway, Mr. Critic, how's _yours _coming along?" But when she leaned in to his side to have a look he pressed a hand against her shoulder, stopping her.

"It's fine."

"Then let me see."

"No."

Sakura almost laughed. "Well, if it's _fine _I'd liked to see it."

This time a clear expression did come across Sasuke's face, on of the only ones she ever saw on him. A scowl. "Why don't you focus on your ….apples?"

"They're not _apples!_" she snapped, knowing that his comment had been completely intentional. "They're pears!!"

Sasuke let out a snort and opened his mouth to retort when another voice stopped him.

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Sakura resisted the urge to groan and tried to lean over her sketch, a vain attempt to block it from her teacher's eyes. She was already having a bad day; she didn't really want to add on to it by getting her picture critiqued by her teacher- who could not be more than three years older than her. In the short time that she had been in class Sakura could already tell she didn't like the guy too much. Sai. Though he could only be three years older than her, at the most, he acted as though he were god- and all of them just small, itty bitty ants for him to step on.

She wrinkled her nose unconsciously.

"That looks awful," Sai continued without preamble, smiling. Sakura's eyebrow twitched angrily but she bit her lip, keeping her from talking back and probably getting kicked out of class. She hated that stupid smile of his. It looked entirely too fake. "I do believe I assigned this class to draw still lifes, not make an abstract drawing Miss Haruno."

Several snickers and giggles sounded around the otherwise quiet class but when Sakura turned to glare in their direction everyone had their eyes on their sketches.

"I'm trying," she ground out at her teacher.

"Hmm, yes, I suppose you are. I guess that's fine then, after all, failing is another part of life. And not everyone can compare to us real artists. Isn't that right," Sai turned his smile upon Sasuke ", Sasuke-kun?"

"Don't call me that."

The Uchiha didn't even glance at his teacher, but instead kept his eyes on Sakura and her sketch. Sakura, humiliated, and mistaking the emotion in Sasuke's eyes as pity, flushed angily and turned away from him.

Sai watched the exchange with the same cold smile on his face ", well then, continue on." He turned around to look at the rest of the class's progress, but stopped at the sound of whispering voices behind him. Sasuke had scooted closer to Sakura, taking hold of the hand that held her pencil in his own.

Sakura felt her heart speed up when Sasuke's arm went around her, and his hand took hold of her own. "What are you doing?"

He didn't reply, just led her hand with his own into making smooth, even strokes on the paper. Sakura didn't even pay attention to what he was doing, instead trying to dislodge his hand from hers. But his grip was strong, and he only wavered for a second, before putting the pencil back on the paper.

"I don't need your pity," she hissed angrily at him.

"Who says I'm offering it?" His breath fanned against her cheek and shivers ran up Sakura's spine. Her anger wavered, like a small candle, before going out completely. Her eyebrows drew together. "But then…." She wanted to ask him why he was doing this, helping a new girl who- asides from being best friends with her childhood friend- he barely knew.

But words seemed wrong at the moment, and so she chose to keep quiet, blushing lightly at how warm his hand felt over hers. Her eyes fell unto the sketch curiously. Her gasp drew stares from the classroom.

Sakura could barely believe her eyes. Her 'abstract drawing' as her teacher had so deemed it looked decent-no! more than decent. Incredible even.

She smiled slightly. Who knew the grumpy Uchiha boy had an inner artist in him? When she voiced her thoughts, Sasuke uttered a ", hn." He let go of her hand and moved away, back to his own drawing.

Sai watched them from his desk with sharp eyes, his mind reeling in surprise and delight.

_So, it seems even the Uchiha has a weakeness _

His eyes went back to his other student. Haruno, Sakura: age 18, rare pink hair, slightly larger than ordinary forehead and a talent for medicine but otherwise, normal.

But if Sasuke had taken interest in her, maybe there was something more. Something she was hiding.

_Interesting…… very, very interesting_

Unknowing of the pairs of eyes on her Sakura smiled at Sasuke thankfully, though he had long since turned away, and looked outside. Her smile widened.

The rain had stopped.

* * *

_**Yay, more people introduced! Sorry if it's kinda short guys, but I tried to make it longer and it sounded to run on and pointless. But poor Sakura, all she wanted was to keep a low profile in college and now she's got half of the school taking interest in her. XD And hmmm, what could Sai be up to? ... If he's even up to anything. Ack! Who knows how that guy's mind works? **_

_**Certainly not me ;  
**_

_**Also, now I seriously need to start thinking of what I wanna do with the plot line and events. ; Suggestions are welcome!! ; )**  
_


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